Arya's First Day of "School"

Last Wednesday, I took Arya to her first day of "school". It is actually a Parents' Day Out program at a preschool/church where several of our friends' kids go to preschool. We have the option of taking her to the program a couple of afternoons and/or mornings a week. She went last Wednesday and again today, and she seemed to have a lot of fun. She says that the teachers are nice. They've told me that she has been a really good girl both days she has been there. She has been hesitant to leave both of the days when I've come to pick her up because she has enjoyed cooking in their toy kitchen so much. She also likes the slide, which is part of their indoor playground. She takes her lunch when she goes, and she thinks that is fun. (She likes me to pack her favorite lunch - a ham and cheese sandwich.) The pictures above are of Arya all ready to head to school with her lunch bag! I still can't believe how she is growing up!!

Recent comments from Arya

Yesterday, we had to drive down to Indy. On the way, I let Arya have a sucker that they gave her the last time we stopped at the bank. It was close to sunset, so the sun was low and shining through the window. I looked at Arya and saw her holding her sucker out in front of her. When she saw me, she said, "Mommy, my blue sucker looks so beautiful with the sun on it!" It was such a sweet observation that I decided I had to write it down. I am amazed at the things that she notices.

Another funny thing Arya said yesterday was this, "Mommy, I'm a sweet girl, but I'm not food."

She comes up with the funniest things. I'll try to keep posting them from time to time here on her blog.

December mini photo shoot

In December, we did a mini photo shoot of our family to use in our Christmas cards. I thought I'd post a few of them so the blog would have some updated photos of our little Arya.

Warm feet AND hands!

I had to post this snapshot that I took of Arya today. We were getting ready to go to the grocery store, and I asked Arya to go get some socks out of her drawer and put them on. Soon, she came back wearing the two sets of socks above. (She didn't roll up her pants like that. I did that so that you could see both pairs of socks!) "Look, Mommy! I put these blue ones on my feet and these pink ones on my hands! That way my feet won't get cold AND my hands won't get cold!!!" Pretty smart! :)

Mommy, where is Barack Obama?

Yesterday, Arya went with me to vote early. I knew that we might have to deal with some lines, so I was trying to get Arya excited about going to "vote". She knows who Barack Obama is and regularly points him out when she sees his picture on the computer, TV, or like last week, in the books on tape section of the gas station we stopped at while driving back from Toronto. "Arya, we're going to go vote for Barack Obama!! Isn't that exciting?" I said to her yesterday. She asked lots of questions, trying to figure out what it meant to vote for president. The best question came when we actually got to the County Building, where early voting was taking place. "Mommy, where is Barack Obama? Is he in there?" Sadly, I had to explain to her that she wasn't going to get to see him in the Delaware County building. She was clearly disappointed.

Maybe the fact that I let her push the red button to submit my vote once I was finished voting was able to make up for some of the disappointment. When her daddy got home last night, she got to proudly announce, "Daddy, WE voted for Barack Obama today! ....And I got to push the red button!"


(I took this photo at the Obama rally in Indy October 8. I was going to take Arya with me, just for the history of the event, but since it was a pretty yucky day she stayed home and played with Hama instead.)

Frog or Cow?

We had to go to TJ Maxx the other day, and while we were there Arya was very excited about the animal costumes that she saw. She wanted to try on her two favorites - the frog and the cow. I don't think she really thinks of the costumes in relation to Halloween, she just thinks it is so much fun to get to wear costumes. They have trick or treating at Ontario Systems every year for the employees' kids, and since we'll probably go, it would be good to plan ahead and get a good deal on a costume (hooray for TJ Maxx!) while they still have her size. I tried to get Arya to decide between these two, but she just didn't get the idea that she could only pick one. She was asking if she could get one and then bring it back a little later and get the other one. (Maybe like getting books from the library?) Anyway, I took her picture and she keeps asking family members if they want to see her wearing "two costumes". I guess I can't blame her for not being able to pick - I can't decide myself which I think is cuter!!

Jesus Loves Me

Okay, YouTube is working again. Here is the other video that I was going to upload last night. Arya is singing "Jesus Loves Me". She changes the words a little at the end and then she starts to say, "Now show me!" because she wanted to see what she looked like singing in the video! Unfortunately, that gets cut off because I can only record 30 seconds at a time!!